


There is Time

by EmeraldBenu



Series: Where There's a Will [1]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Dimension Travel, Families of Choice, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Hatake Clan, POV Multiple, Time Travel, Warring states period, in case it isn't clear nothing they do in this time will affect their original time
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-10-04
Updated: 2016-04-13
Packaged: 2018-04-24 17:48:41
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 11,766
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4929274
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EmeraldBenu/pseuds/EmeraldBenu
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Always, always late and then far, far too early. Really if it’s not one thing it’s another. But that’s okay, they’re together again. Now they just have to survive to find a way home. But they’ll manage, as a team.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Not Late

**Author's Note:**

> In which Madara miscalculates and Obito is not late...

Obito is running. Tearing through the moonlight dancing in the boughs of the forest.

A distant part of him relishes being outside after all this time, but he suppresses it almost as soon as the thought registers. There is no time for that now. Kakashi and Rin are in trouble, and from what Guruguru said Minato-sensei is nowhere near to help.

He grabs the left side of his face where his left eye used to be. There is an odd sensation there as if the chakra pathways are being activated after long being dormant. Mere seconds after the sensation of active chakra reaches a point where it matches the one from his other eye, there is some sort of strange vision seen through his empty eye socket.

It shocks him. Had he been on the ground instead of mid leap through the trees he would have tripped over his own feet.

He doesn’t stop to ponder. Just continues to run, recklessly hurtling towards his teammates as fast as he can. The image changes a bit and he catches a glimpse of Rin. His heart leaps even as it twists with worry. She looks wan, tired. A moment later he catches the glimpse of several masked shinobi. Not Konoha.

Obito understands in that instant that he is somehow seeing though the eye he gave Kakashi. That his teammates, his family, are in dire straits. No help in sight.

His heart stutters a bit and he reaches for a well of chakra he didn’t realize he had as he pushes himself faster than he has ever gone before. 

Faster. Just a little bit faster. There.

Obito charges headlong into the clearing. He takes the situation in with a Sharingan fueled glance, but doesn’t falter, doesn’t stumble in his quest to reach his teammates. Not when he sees Kakashi racing towards an enemy Shinobi, chidori screaming in the air, only for Rin to suddenly be there. 

There is shock and horror painted across the exposed features of his face. The realization that he won’t be able to stop in time. Obito has seen chidori in action before and he knows that there will be know way for Kakashi to stop.

And Rin. Dear, gentle Rin’s expression is so very resigned, but purposeful. Her choice.

Obito doesn’t understand, but he knows that he has to stop it somehow. There has to be a way for all of them to survive this.

He thinks he feels a slight drag on the speed of his run, but disregards it. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees something strange about his eye that Kakashi bears. The eye has a different shape, like some sort of pinwheel. His own eye is burning hot. Branding the image of an inevitable death of one of his precious people into his retina.

Oh please, please. 

Let me be in time. 

An enemy shinobi appears directly in front of him, but he doesn’t stop. Can’t stop or he’ll be too late. So he runs. He runs and he passes right through them as if they weren’t even there. Not even registering the lack of Gururguru wrapped around him or the cool night air.

This once.

After everything. 

Just give me a little more time. 

Finally, one last burst of chakra and suddenly he is there. Obito doesn’t know how he crossed the last several yards so fast. He shouldn’t have made it, but he did. He did and he doesn’t care how it happened as he catches Rin with one arm and Kakashi with the other.

The air is stifling hot all of the sudden and Obito feels like his chakra coils are full of burning poison. Kakashi’s chidori is still crackling and there is the scent of ozone in the air as the three of them crash towards the ground.

Just a little more.

Time.

The instant they land there is a nausea inducing vortex wrapped about them that seems to last forever as if the world cannot decide which way wants to be up or down, before the three of them collapse in a heap. 

In the clearing they left behind there is a deafening sound like a lightning strike in close proximity. The very air roils and everything within a one hundred yard radius is obliterated. The ground is riddled with a web of lightning and the air seems to contain a perpetual lightning storm entrapped within hallucinogenic inducing bubbles of water that give the impression the whole area is a boiling cauldron. The only change to the web of lightning on the ground comes in the form of a five foot circle in the epicenter, where it looks like the webbing has been twisted into an odd spiral.

“Not late, not late,” Obito chokes out from where the three of them landed on the ground like a fervent prayer. 

The grip he has on both of his teammates could be mistaken for a vise.

“Not late.”

He repeats it, over and over, voice and breath failing as the adrenaline fades from his system and his vision begins to tunnel. He can’t hear anything over the thundering noise of his heart and it feels as if his veins have liquid ice running through them. 

With the last shred of his faltering strength he reaches out his senses and feels Rin’s warm chakra, though there is something different about it, and the crackle of Kakashi’s chakra. Both of them exhausted but alive. 

There are Konoha trees all round them. How he knows this escapes his present understanding, but he does just as sure as he knows that the sun will rise every morn. With what little bit of his fading coherency he has, he detects no threats nearby, despite the fact that he can sense no one else but the three of them anywhere near when the area should be bustling with activity. So he lets himself slip farther into unconsciousness, the grip on his teammates turning lax, content in the knowledge that his team is safe and for once he was _not late_.

The tranquil sounds of the forest reach his ears as the roar of his heart beat calms. Vision dark. The ache of the right side of his body, ignored for the duration of the mad race to reach his teammates, hits him with a vengeance. He closes his eye, even as an onset of full body tremors begin to wrack his frame. 

A soft breath of fresh air caresses his skin and he relishes it now even though he is chilled by it. Somehow, he has lost the cloak he took in his rush from Madara’s cave. The only thing left to ward off the chill in the air is his threadbare pants. Had he the strength, he would curl in on himself.

The cave has been dark and musty, but always warm. Sometimes it was stifling. He spent all his waking efforts towards retraining his body, not only to hasten his escape, but also to avoid the feeling of the walls closing in on him. 

At least he had his Sharingan, otherwise he would have been confined to pitch black darkness as well. Though the red tint his eye cast on everything all the time was unnerving. The only dash of color other than red that he saw in that accursed cave was when he cast his gaze towards any of the few living beings that resided there. 

Madara gave him the creeps even if he was sleeping so he avoided that and he spent as much time as possible not looking at the cobbled together mess that was his body. The only ones left were Madara’s strange assistants with their odd eccentrics. However helpful they were, they added to the feeling of his sanity being eroded by that place piece by piece. Still, he wonders what happened to Guruguru, he had helped him reach his teammates in time after all, whatever his motives.

Just before his strength fails him entirely, he thinks he hears Rin call his name. There is a phantom sensation of arms cradling him against a body on one side, and the familiar feeling of Rin’s medical diagnostic jutsu on the other. She is calling his name repeatedly now, sounding near frantic and her chakra has an almost boiling intensity to it that is painful, where before it always held soothing healing. His mind rationalizes it away as his own exhaustion and pain from his still healing body. Though the knowledge does nothing to prevent the barest of whimpers from escaping him, and Rin’s jutsu cuts off sharply.

Stark relief fills him as the awareness sinks in that he is finally back with his team, whilst some distant portion of his mind is bewildered by Kakashi’s gentle hold on him. It’s been so long. So very long. Even with his effort to rein them in, he feels the glide of tears down his scarred cheek. Then there is a hand combing soothingly through too long locks of his dark hair. Despite all his bravado in front of Madara and his odd helpers, he had begun to wonder if he was ever going to get out of that cave let alone see his family again. 

He attempts to make a token effort to reassure them both. To open his eye and see, but the last of his strength gives out before he manages it. _Not late_ he thinks one last time before he slides down into oblivion.


	2. Forward to the Past

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The question is no longer only where but when…

Kakashi feels as though he has been thrown through a maelstrom, both physically and mentally. He struggles to reach a calm amidst the storm of his roiling emotions and he tightens his grip on Obito even as Rin’s hand is running tentatively through Obito’s hair.

Conceptually, he acknowledges that Rin’s decision was appropriate given the circumstances, but his heart aches at the thought of losing another precious person that way. He locks the thought away. Buries it. Though he expects it will become a vivid feature in his nightmares.

If not for Obito’s miraculous return, he would wonder if he was cursed.

Rin pauses with every tremulous stroke of her hand, afraid even to touch Obito. Her distress over her failed attempt at healing is palpable.

_Alive. Not Dead._

He is _never_ going to make a comment about Obito being late again. Not when he has been right on time, when it truly matters.

Kakashi is exhausted beyond anything he has ever felt before. Frankly, he is surprised he is still conscious.

His chakra, small as it is, feels like it is burning underneath his flesh, and he is inclined to believe that his all too meager reserves must be due to the Sanbi. Despite the entire situation around the Sanbi being sealed in Rin, he cannot help but feel a twinge of gratitude towards the demon right this moment.

In the pale light of the moon, Kakashi see that the three of them are sitting in the middle of a circle, five feet in diameter, and there is lightning scarred into the ground, twisted with a strange spiral.

It reminds Kakashi of the nautilus shell his father had shown him long ago when he was a child, and the world did not seemed an endless dull grey. The shell and the story his father told him to lull him to sleep at night, of the many travels of the nomadic Hatake clan when they were many and not just two.

Of course his father used the shell and its special properties to teach him his numbers too. But other Konoha children were learning less complicated lessons counting tree branches instead.

Why?

Why now?

Why is he…? Oh.

He feels it then. He wonders how he missed it until now. But there are the barest traces of the Hatake white chakra running through both his teammates. Not enough to use, but any Hatake could feel the touch of their own clan chakra.

It was the old way, to adopt new members into the clan.

He hadn’t felt the Hatake clan’s chakra inside another, since his father’s teammates died. And even then he avoided them wherever possible after his father’s disgrace. After they scorned the treasured gift that his father had offered. After they…

No. Not now.

Not the time for this.

Not safe.

“Rin, take him for a minute.”

Rin’s heartsick gaze darts up to his and she opens her mouth.

“I’ve got to scout the perimeter.”

She closes her mouth, takes a deep breath, and nods. Rin winds her arms around Obito, mindful of any potential hurt even touching him might cause. Obito makes no sound in protest at the transfer even though his shaking has yet to cease and Kakashi can see Rin’s curl her arms around him in relief.

Good.

Satisfied that the two of them are as well as they can be given the circumstances, Kakashi takes a gentle, silent leap towards the tree tops. He had covered Obito’s gift upon their unorthodox landing, after an initial scan that turned up no threats in the immediate vicinity, to prevent any further chakra drain.

That doesn’t mean that there will not be threats coming.

The moon bathes the world in a cast of silver-grey shadows and a glance around from his new vantage point has his brain stuttering in disbelief.

What.

A slight flair of his chakra to dispel any genjutsu and the scenery stays the same.

Impossible.

His mind strains in the grasp of such an incomprehensible conundrum.

But all of his not inconsiderable senses agree. This is indeed Konoha. Right in the middle of their teams training ground unless he is mistaken. And yet…

_There is no Konoha._

Nothing.

Oh there are a plethora of trees and such, just…

No people. No buildings. No faces carved in the mountain.

No sign that Konoha has ever existed at all.

But above all no _guarantee of safety_ for his team.

No safety.

His awareness strays to the traces of white chakra he feels in his teammates and he takes note of Rin making another attempt her jutsu.

Well.

Perhaps there is _some_ safety to be found. But…

No.

No. Obito and Rin aren’t like his father’s teammates. They are true packmates. True members of his clan now. He can trust them.

It won’t be like before.

But a part of him trembles. Wavers in the face of a wound so deeply etched into his heart.

A drop of rain interrupts his internal deliberation.

A glance to the sky reveals a gathering of storm clouds moving to obscure the moonlight and more raindrops follow. A storm. Usually he relishes them. The sound of the rain and the dance of lightning, his affinity, his element.

But right now…

Kakashi hops down from the top of the tree after one last scan of the surroundings to be sure of his orientation and moves back to his teammates.

Rin’s voice is so soft as to be almost unintelligible over the light pattering of rain.

“Are we safe? I need to try to stabilize Obito’s chakra coils.”

Kakashi tilts his head to the side.

“Aside from whatever has been done to him, the Sanbi’s chakra is causing Obito’s entire chakra system to break down. I have some time, but if I don’t stabilize it soon he won’t make it back to Konoha.”

Unacceptable.

No.

_Not after we just got him back._

He ignores the comment about Konoha for the moment. He makes his decision in the wake of new knowledge, and Kakashi motions for Rin to follow. She inclines her head, gathers up Obito in a secure hold, and rises to her feet.

Kakashi sets his speed as swift as possible in order for Rin to move in tandem even as he remains on guard for any surprises.

Every step brings them closer to one of the many Hatake clan dens residing all over the elemental nations. In the future, the clan compound was built near the den itself. Hopefully, they have not been thrown too far into the past and the den exists.

A few more yards.

There.

The minute traces that mark the entrance. The ones that only allow those that bear the white chakra to enter.

He steels his heart against old grief as they draw near.

Kakashi feels the weight of Rin’s scrutiny on his back as he disables the seals that will allow entry into the den. She gives a light gasp as the seals flare white and the entrance materializes.

They slip inside and Kakashi lights one of the andon lanterns stored there. The seals reactivate, hiding the entrance once more. Farther inside they move, guided by Kakashi’s unerring footsteps and the lantern he held aloft.

The Hatake clan symbol is emblazed on the back of the main room, a diamond made up of nine interlocking diamonds. He doubts that Rin even recognizes the symbol. He’s never worn it around his team. Indeed, the symbol has been used only in clan dwellings for some time now. Not in his memory has the symbol been worn as it used to be.

He feels his movements turning sluggish as he heads towards the room with healing supplies. The knowledge of a safe location causing adrenaline to fade. The lantern wobbles in his hand when they enter and he sets it down where it can cast enough light in the room. After a glance at the surrounding supplies, Rin takes the initiative, she lays Obito down on the makeshift bed, and starts to cover him with furs.

Kakashi feels like his going to collapse at any moment as he stumbles over to them and drops unceremoniously to the floor beside Obito. He grapples with the feeling of cotton in his brain in order to convey the situation to Rin. But words and their meaning keep slipping away from him like raindrops on leaves. He barely manages anything coherent.

“Konoha.”

“Warring states.”

Rin blinks as she digests those statements and her eyes go wide.

Her hands tremble for a moment.

“We’re in the past?”

He nods, wishing with all his heart that he had better news. There will be no more help for them in the immediate future. Later, perhaps, they could get in contact with his clan. But that will give them no help now.

Kakashi watches Rin take a deep breath and let it settle, before she turns her full concentration to Obito. He can’t help but marvel at her renewed determination in the face of events. He wasted so much time dismissing both of his teammates.

But maybe, just maybe, he’ll get another chance to change that.

Rin is Obito’s only hope now.

Hope. He hardly dares.

But…

Hope springs eternal.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 2 title comes from the old video game Chrono Trigger, because I was feeling nostalgic and it fit.
> 
> This was supposed to be have another part, but the length on it grew and I felt it was an acceptable place to stop. Kakashi just sort of sauntered in and took over adding a bunch of new unplanned stuff to his part. Sigh. So chapter 2 is going to be split into two parts, and I make no promises on the length for the new chapter 3 since that section wasn’t supposed to be that long. Haha Key word there is “supposed” to be. And apparently my numbering was off in my notes for the current chapter breakdown too, so there is another chapter. 
> 
> References:  
> *The nautilus and the tree branch counting are a reference to the Fibonacci sequence.  
> **The lightning pattern on the ground looks like a Lichtenberg figure, if you want a picture, twisted with a spiral.  
> ***“Hope springs eternal” comes from Alexander Pope, An Essay on Man. I thought it felt appropriate here given the situation.


	3. A New Hope

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which there is hope and healing…

Isobu is tearing at the seal holding him prisoner.

_RageHateFury…_

_How dare they?_

_How dare they seal him in one of those accursed leaf ninja!_

It is bad enough they constantly seal both he and his brethren in these cold-blooded monsters, these beings that call themselves human, as if that makes them superior and worthy to pass judgement on every other sentient being there is, but only his arrogant eldest sibling has ever been sealed inside a leaf ninja.

Kurama was the first of them to be caught despite all his bravado at being the strongest of them.

Leaf ninja… it was they who started the imprisonment of him and his siblings…

Konoha who taught others how to shackle them… use them…

Curse them.

Curse them to the endless depths of the ocean.

His chakra feels more drained than he can ever remember it being, but there is still enough to break loose.

The little abomination that he is sealed in distracted.

One last tear at the seal should—

Isobu is jarred from his destructive thoughts by his newest host’s own voice entwined with her will. The strength of her conviction shatters through his blind wrath.

Protect.

Heal.

What?

A healer…

He wonders just for a moment if his own hallucinogenic abilities are causing him to have delusions.

He… was sealed inside a healer?

Had he the need to breath, the breathe would have been stolen from his lungs. After all these years, never has he been sealed into a healer. Now that he is calmer, Isobu registers the deliberate design of the poorly constructed seal binding him in his latest host.

Ah, a trap, or at least another deliberate ploy made to weaponized him in some way even sealed in a healer.

But…

Contrary to the popular opinion of humans, bijuu are not unintelligent, and it does not take Isobu much to realize that whatever plot was intended for him and his host has gone awry. Not the least, due to miscalculating the strength of will his host possesses. The odd sensation of his own chakra elsewhere, still free and untamed, is a blatant indication of at least some sort of dimensional travel, if not time travel mixed in somehow.

He watches her as she tries desperately to save her patient, one of those thrice cursed Uchiha no less, but the fluctuating levels of her chakra are making such a task nigh impossible. Yet, she spares no effort in her attempt.

And here is a choice… Isobu could shatter the seal. Kill all three of them. He would be stranded here, but he could at least warn his siblings and his counterpart. Keep them away and wary of the humans who are capable of imprisoning them.

But he wonders…

It’s been a long time since his father. A long time since he looked at any human and saw hope. There was no hate in this girl for him. Stubbornness, fury and grief at the situation, a desire to live and heal, but no hate.

Is it possible?

Despite his previously ungenerous thoughts on humans, he knows they are not all abominations, and he has ever been a soft heart.

Isobu sags in place.

All his hope, once a blazing inferno, has been doused to a few crackling embers over the long years. So Isobu is willing to take this chance, unbidden and unlooked for as it is, but still something new. He dearly hopes he isn’t wrong, because he doesn’t know how many more years of isolation, watching the cruelty of humans, he can stand.

Well… he’ll cast his lot with these three children. He’s under no illusion that there will not be blood and death, these three are shinobi for all they are children. In time, perhaps they could look at him and not see a monster. The cycle of hatred will never end so long as they never try.

* * *

 

Rin takes a deep breath and resists rubbing the sweat off her brow. Her concentration has, thus far, been splintered between healing Obito and trying to keep the Sanbi contained. But… for no apparent reason the bijuu had stopped fighting her.

Is it tired? Has it given up? Or is it just waiting for her to be distracted before tearing through the seal when she least expects? She reaches out her awareness one last time to check, but Rin cannot tell what is happening with the bijuu.

Well. They have already had one miracle today. Asking for another so soon after the rather large one they have been granted might be pressing their luck, but maybe… just maybe it would be all right.

She takes a moment to appreciate the ingenious use of a Roukoku water clock in what is clearly meant to be a healing room of this place.  Not only does it allow a healer to keep track of the passage of time, but it is also constructed so as to double as a washing sink. In addition, the sound of the continuously running water is relaxing for both healer and patient.

A breathe.

A silent plea to the heavens.

And Rin sets her entire attention towards healing Obito, trusting whatever guarding hand that seems to looking after them to protect them once again.

Her chakra is still far more than it should be and her control not nearly well regulated. But she isn’t going to let that stop her. She bathes Obito’s chakra coils with healing chakra and inch by slow inch it is healing. Slowly, but surely, the degradation is coming to a halt.

But not fast enough, her chakra control escapes her more often than not, causing the technique to fail. Underneath her hands, Obito’s tremors worsen a vivid warning of the lack of time.

Suddenly, another presence is there, and her chakra control shores up into a steady stream. Time is of the essence so she doesn’t stop, can’t, no matter how much she wants to panic at the Sanbi’s intrusion. But… it’s helping. The bijuu is helping. Her chakra is well under control now and she can feel the vast quantities still available to her from the bijuu.

She’s wary, worried, part of her terrified that the Sanbi is going to do something to Obito, but she can sense no malice, no hate, only an echoing tired wariness. She’s still healing Obito, but a part of her trembles. Rin feels like she is standing on the verge of a fathomless precipice, turning away from every teaching that she has heard of the bijuu.

But Obito will die if she doesn’t trust.

She swallows even though it tastes like poison in her mouth, and again sets her concentration entirely on healing Obito, trusting in this strange partnership to a being known only for its destructive capabilities to save him.

It’s a breathtaking rush, a giddy relief, as the healing and stabilization of Obito’s chakra coils is going exponentially faster with help. As she looks closer at the damage she can spot other influences besides the Sanbi’s chakra. A seal that looks to have been carved on his heart has been overrun, burnt with the Sanbi’s chakra, and is slowly dissipating.

She hopes desperately that the seal was not some sort of stabilizing element for whatever healing methods where used to keep Obito alive.

Rin doesn’t quite know what to do about his right side as the seam where the living flesh meets with the new flesh seems to be falling apart. The normal methods of healing do not seem to be working on it, yet she can tell that whatever was used to replace that part of his body is contributing to keeping him alive. If it fails, then all the stabilization in the elemental nations of Obito’s chakra coils aren’t going to matter.

So she turns her focus to a small section of the edges, where these new prosthetics meet with Obito’s original flesh. Painstakingly slow, she tries various attempts to keep the two halves bonded together, but nothing seems to work.

A formless idea wrapped in familiarity not her own, a slight hum of chakra, and she wills the living flesh to heal and the prosthetics to grow. Pulling them closer to each other and intertwining the two energies, she watches with delight as they mend. In fact, the original tissue seems to be healing even faster at that location. Embolden by her success, she begins the slow arduous task of mending the two sides together.

Finally satisfied, she withdraws her healing jutsu with a smile and lets the gentle sound of the flowing water lull her.

Obito’s tremors are nearly nonexistent. It will be some time before he is completely healed from the amount of damage the Sanbi’s chakra wrecked to his system, he will mostly likely be aching for days, and there is something still not right with his prosthetics. But he’s out of immediate danger for now.

Rin fills her thoughts with boundless joy and unending gratitude as she directs her thoughts towards her unasked for passenger. She feels it, no him, Sanbi-san definitely feels like a him to her, she feels him startle.

Wariness and aching hope entwine together. It’s unorthodox, completely against everything she’s ever been taught, but after this he more than deserves a chance to prove himself to be something other than a being of rage and destruction.

As she retracts her hands and opens her eyes, her smile widens. Kakashi is fast asleep, curled up under the furs on Obito’s left side, hand over Obito’s heart. Rin wobbles slightly, her gaze sliding to the water clock to reveal she has spent 8 long hours healing. Exhaustion crashes over her like a wave, and she is sluggish as she crawls underneath the furs on Obito’s right side. She casts a bleary goodnight towards her new partner as she drifts off.

Sleep feels like a divine mercy to her.

* * *

 

When next Rin wakes, it is to the urgent prodding of Sanbi-san’s, and until she knows if he has a name or what his name is that is how she is going to refer to him, chakra against her own.

Running the palm of her hand over her face, she opens her eyes. A single glance around reveals some sort of odd luminescent lighting on the walls and Kakashi missing, causing a frown to bloom on her face.

The urgent prodding has yet to fade, so she sits up, furs tumbling from her shoulders, and reaches her arms back in a good stretch. Checking the water clock tells her that she has been sleeping a solid 24 hours now, and her stomach is aching in blatant agreement with that assessment. It had been a good 10 hours before their impromptu escape and trip to the past that she has eaten, making it approximately 42 hours since any food has passed her lips.

Rin feels a distinct tic in her left eye muscles at the thought. Considering everything about their current situation and with how unlucky the number 42 is, she wonders if the universe is having a lark at the expense of her life.

She is not amused.

But first…

She reaches over and runs a check on Obito’s healing progress. His coils are still steady, and everything seems to be on the mend, except for the issue with his prosthetics. They are progressively worse than before, still not a critical danger, but they will be soon if something isn’t done.

Sanbi-san is no longer prodding her, so she assumes this is what he wanted her to pay attention to. She cocks her head as a sudden sensation of warm sunlight wraps around her. A moment of confusion, and then she remembers how Obito’s prosthetics seemed to grow. Perhaps they need some sort of sunlight? From the way Sanbi-san seems to retreat from her forethoughts, she will take that as his opinion on what’s wrong.

Well, sunlight is more of an idea than she has at the moment, and there would be no harm in trying.

Still, she needs to find Kakashi. She doubts she could open the way out without his help. Hopefully, he knows where some food is around this place too.

As she rises to her feet, she spies some dark silver-grey clothes her size that were previously not there. Rin runs her fingers over the Hyakunichisou, otherwise known as Zinnia, flower pattern on the mid-thigh kimono style top. The flowers are large and spaced far apart. Being a kunoichi well versed in Hanakotoba, the flower language, she recognizes the hidden message and a wave of guilt courses through her.

Loyalty.

She closes her eyes and sighs. This is not meant to cause her pain she knows. Grief and self-loathing in equal measure have been Kakashi’s shroud, every moment that she has seen him since that ghastly day they left Obito buried underneath mountains of rock.

No. This is sorrow and distress and horror all wrapped up in _is this my fault_? _Everything starts falling apart the minute things are taking a turn for the better, what’s going to fall apart now_? _What can I do to keep you both with me_?

She understands.

A part of her has been screaming since they left Obito, and the screams have morphed into howling since finding out he survived.

Left him.

Alone.

Bleeding.

Crushed in the dark.

Her thoughts are circling like eddies in a stream as she remembers that fateful day, when they returned without Obito and were confronted by the Uchiha clan.

It had blindsided her.

All of them, Minato-sensei, Kakashi, Kushina, and herself, all of them had been so marred with grief it was hard to breathe. But Obito’s clan had been an altogether different story.

Distain.

Contempt.

Rage at Obito’s decision to give a non-Uchiha a Sharingan eye.

No grief for his passing. No pride in his accomplishment for finally achieving the Sharingan, the second tomoe on activation no less.

Nothing.

Obito was, is. He is her best friend, and somehow she missed just how his clan treated him. Oh, she knows it wasn’t all sunshine and roses, but never did she realize the true depth of isolation he must have felt.

Both her boys have suffered so much.

She’s under no illusion that there is not the need for mental healing. Honestly, they could probably all use it. Rin has no idea what Obito’s mental state is going to be. She recalls the echoing memory of Obito’s frantic “Not late” prior to his collapse. His thoughts were centered on Kakashi and herself, just like the day when Obito told them to leave him, so at least that much is a normal reaction for him.

He bears no marks that indicate torture as long as you discount the strange prosthetics, which probably saved his life. All the same, no physical torture does not mean he escaped mental torture or even experimentation, which is likely _given_ the prosthetics and the strange way his body healed. There is a chance for things to be different now, but that requires getting everyone physically healthy first.

A breath and she opens her eyes.

A cursory scan of her current clothing reveals its less than admirable condition. She picks ups the top and black pants. Kakashi is not present, Obito is unlikely to wake, but still she slides behind a screen to change into the clothes she assumes Kakashi found just the same.

Rin takes note of the crest on the back of the kimono top. It is made up of the same 9 interlocking diamonds like the wall she saw on the way in. The diamonds are outlined in silver with each individual diamond filled with a deep blood red.

She wonders.

She has never seen Kakashi wear any crest that denotes his clan, but given everything that has happened, she would not be surprised if this is the Hatake clan crest.

Was it okay for non-clan members to wear it?

Rin supposes it must be or he wouldn’t have left the clothes for her.

Finally dressed, with one last glance at Obito she heads out of the room to seek out her wayward teammate. Kakashi must have heard her moving about, because she doesn’t get very far before she meets him.

He is wearing new clothes with the same Zinnia pattern and crest as well, and she wonders if she misinterpreted the meaning behind the clothes. Perhaps it is simply a normal design in the clothes stored here?

If this place does belong to the Hatake clan, she would not be surprised. Kakashi is many things, but always loyal to those that earn it. She and Obito only fully gained loyalty from him on that disastrous Kannabi bridge mission.

Or perhaps it was that Kakashi finally realized that he did feel loyalty to them then. So many years spent trying to guard himself from harm, only to bear a grievous wound to his soul once he opened up again.

Still, if Kakashi is anything to judge the rest of his clan by, loyalty is a safe bet.

His gaze is conflicted with guilt and he doesn’t quite meet her eyes, letting his own eye drift off to the side of her shoulder.

Mentally she sighs. This is something that will have to be dealt with soon. But for now she lets it go.

“Can you open up the entrance again?”

Kakashi’s eye narrows in consideration. “Why?”

“The prosthetics are not healing as they should. Everything else healing is, but whatever they are made from they seem to mimic the properties of growing things.”

With a mental apology to Sanbi-san, because there is no way she is going to open up that proverbial can of worms at the moment, she claims the idea as her own. “I thought the sunlight might help heal the damage.”

“Ah, the greenhouse area of the den would work for that then.”

Rin perks up. “That would be even better. I’ll go get him.”

A quick trip back into the healing room and she returns with Obito in short order. “Lead the way.”

On the way, she catches a glimpse of other passageways leading off to other rooms as she follows Kakashi. “Did you find some food around here?”

“Yes, I’ll bring you some as soon as we get Obito settled.”

Soon enough, they enter a large warm room. Kakashi triggers some more seals to open the roof and let some sunlight in. She places Obito in a patch of sunlight, making sure to cover his normal skin to prevent a burn, and waits. Kakashi disappears but for a moment, and returns bringing with him some dried fruits, nuts, jerky and some water, which he shares with her.

“Thanks.”

Kakashi nods even as his eye remains fixed on Obito’s prone form. “Is it helping?”

“Yes.” She smiles softly as Kakashi’s shoulders sag in relief.

As she eats, Rin worries over how long it has been since Obito has eaten. From what she can sense, he should wake sometimes soon. She can make a more informed decision then, since she has no idea how the prosthetics have otherwise affected him.

After the sun has gone down, they return to the healing room. “He’ll probably be awake in a few hours now. He might feel better with some new clothes too when he wakes up, considering the lack of shirt and his old pants. Clearly, wherever he has been and whoever he has been with did not see fit to provide him any. And some clothes would cover up some of the scars, since he’ll probably feel self-conscious about them.”

Kakashi form gives a subtle flinch. There’s more guilt and self-loathing in his eye, but the most prominent expression, before he buries it, is confusion. The guilt and self-loathing she can understand, even if she doesn’t agree with it. But the veritable well-spring of confusion makes no sense to her.

Before she can inquire further, he hums in agreement and if she did not know him better she would have missed the small note of concern in it. It takes him next to no time to return with some new clothes, identical to the ones she and Kakashi are wearing. So perhaps it is merely a staple design in clothing?

Maybe it’s both a staple and message?

So many questions. But as things are right now, it’s not the right time to ask. Perhaps later when things settle a bit. They are not going much of anywhere at the moment, misplaced in time as they are.

Circumstances not demanding her assistance, she grants Obito his modesty as Kakashi puts the new clothes on Obito. After which, they sit down on either side of him again to wait.

Abruptly, Kakashi turns his head towards her. “Is he always going to need sunlight like that?”

Rin shakes her head. “I don’t believe so, at least not in that amount anyway. I can’t be sure just yet, but it appears to be a side effect of how injured he was.”

“Is—”

A sudden choked noise cuts the conversation short as both their heads snap to Obito’s face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter 3 title comes from Star Wars, because nostalgia is apparently a thing with me right now.
> 
> So Isobu and Rin were being little twerps and not being cooperative when I was trying to write them. Not to mention trying to figure out how to describe Rin’s healing, RL being a pain, and a nasty case of writer’s block. I think the chapter turned out fairly well, all things considered. Although, I get the feeling Rin might have info dumped too much, but maybe that’s just me. And I am getting to the point where I am agonizing over it, so it’s time to post it and have done I think. lol Still turned out better than my earlier draft suggested it was going to, so I’m happy even if it ended up more than twice its intended target length. :) 
> 
> References:  
> *There is a 42 reference (because I couldn’t resist adding the joke) from “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy.” Coincidentally, I learned that apparently 42 is an unlucky number in Japanese culture and I wanted to pay tribute to that too. I thought it worked out nicely.  
> **Hanakotoba, the flower language was also something new I learned. Hopefully, I used it in an acceptable manner.  
> *** Roukoku, Water clock – for the sake of brevity my further notes on that are [here](http://fanfiction-journal.tumblr.com/post/140402082744/there-are-no-remaining-diagrams-or-such-of-the) on my [fanfiction-journal](http://fanfiction-journal.tumblr.com/) tumblr.


	4. A Pact for a Pack

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Obito wakes up…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Phew, made it in time! Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone! XD

Obito wakes slowly to the sound of two soft voices and the by now familiar ache of his right side. The voices give off a slight echo that he has come to associate with being in a cave after so long and he keeps his eye closed in sheer despair.

Was it all a dream?

Did… did he just imagine being with Rin and Kakashi?

Or was it one of Madara’s genjutsu?

He hasn’t used one of those on Obito in ages. Not since the early days of his healing in fact. Obito still feels conflicted about that, because Minato-sensei, Kushina-nee, Kakashi, and Rin weren’t really there. But without any pain medication, the escape from physical agony was a heady relief.

Until he came down from his euphoria enough to recognize the illusion, and then it felt like his heart was breaking.

So near and yet so very far.

Tears well up under his closed eye that slide down his scarred cheek before he could help himself, and a half choked noise escapes his throat.

It had felt… so real…

He is so mired in desolation that it takes a moment to realize that the voices have stopped and someone is calling his name. He almost lets himself slide back into sleep as he is in no mood to deal with Guruguru, Zetsu, and Madara. Even if it was only a dream at least he could be with Kakashi and Rin again for a little while, but just as he is drifting off he notices something different through his brain’s sluggish thoughts.

The voice that is calling him is female.

For a moment it feels as if the breath has been stolen from his lungs, and he claws his way towards awareness.

The more cognizant he gets, the more he realizes things are different. The horrible malice-filled atmosphere of the cave he has been in is absent. He can hear the gentle sound of water trickling in the background. The smells are different, filled with scents of fresh water and life. He is warm for the first time in an age and even with his eye closed he can register light in the area.

A further assessment and he can feel the entirety of his whole body aching. The ache of his right side just feels more acute.

Even after all these months he is still getting used to the way his prosthetics register feeling. It isn’t quite the same as the rest of him anymore, and the signals he does register distract him with their sense of wrongness more often than not. He is getting better at working through the sensation though.

He can feel the slight weight of clothes covering his skin. A shirt and pants both. Not those ragged torn pants he has been wearing for so long, but a real set of clothes. Further still he can feel the weight of blankets covering him.

Healing chakra is running through his system and the feel of it is distinctly familiar even as it feels different.

Rin…

That is… Rin’s chakra…

Joy and hope are mingled so tightly beneath his skin he feels almost delirious with it as her voice comes fully into focus.

He’s aware enough now to sense them both, Kakashi and Rin. Kakashi on his left and Rin on his right. He’s been afraid that he would forget the way their chakra brushed up against his own after all this time, but it feels more like coming home than anything ever has.

And he is terrified.

Terrified he’ll open his eyes and find that his senses are deceiving him.

That he’ll be all alone with a crazy old man and…

And of course Kakashi, anti-social jerk that he is, just won’t leave it alone even if his tone is something he has never heard from Kakashi before. “Come on crybaby, you’ve slept long enough you’re going to be late.”

A fierce scowl twists on his face and his sharingan activates automatically as he opens his eye to glower at Kakashi. His tongue feels a bit like sandpaper, but he manages to bite out a rasping “Not late” anyway.

The look on Kakashi’s face startles him out of his irritation as the relief in Kakashi’s voice softly echoes throughout the cave. “Aa, no you’re not.”

The scowl slides off his face as fast as melting butter. All thoughts of confusion at being in a cave over being in the Konoha hospital forgotten, and the look in his own eye slowly slides to wonder.

Obito can never quite forget how people look at him, or rather look through him. It’s always been that way even from members of his own clan, perhaps especially from members of his own clan. Clan is supposed to be family right?

But he remembers sitting and watching families in the clan, for all that the Uchiha specifically preach the dangers of love, he sees how parents regard their children. How even siblings regard each other, always those looks that actually see.

He has wondered for so very long what must be wrong with him that no one ever sees him. One would think the glares of his family, the disdain would be what would hurt the most. But his grief has always been driven by those seemingly careless looks. The ones where, even though he holds every bit of their attention, no one ever sees him. Each unseeing glance wears on his worn and aching heart.

He wonders how long it has been someone looked at him and truly saw.

Rin. Rin was always the closest in his memory to someone who ever took the time to care enough to see. But even she didn’t see everything. Still… he thought she might someday. So he loves her and has loved her for years, because what else was he to do but love the one closest to seeing him.

And Kakashi… he always worried about Kakashi. Every time he looked at Kakashi, he saw those same looks directed at him, the ones that looked and never quite saw. Not since Kakashi’s father was alive has he seen anyone look at Kakashi and truly see.

Obito tried… he tried to show Kakashi that he wanted to truly see him, because if no one else was going to someone needed to. He doesn’t care what anyone says, no can want to not have someone actually see them.

Obito succeeded for a time in at least gaining his attention. Kakashi never sparred with anyone outside of assigned matches in the academy aside from Gai and himself.

And Gai was… well Gai.

But after Kakashi lost his father he just… shut down.

Existed.

As if living held no more meaning for him anymore beyond the shinobi rules.

Obito hated it.

He never even knew why Kakashi was that way until Minato-sensei told him about Sakumo.

But.

He never quite managed to actually see Kakashi though, not until the Kanabi bridge mission when he was lying pinned under all those rocks…

And Kakashi hadn’t quite seen him then. He’d started to… he’d started to see Obito, but Kakashi’s heart had been a raw broken tangle after being frozen for so long.

Rent with new grief.

Obito had thought the love he felt for Rin was romantic love, but in those moments he found he loved Kakashi just as much as her. He’d recognized it for what kind of love it was then, a deep unending love for his little makeshift family.

There was little he could do for the both of them as he felt himself fading. So he’d given Kakashi his eye as a gift to replace the one he lost defending him. Obito wanted to see the future with him that was true, but what Obito really wanted was for Kakashi to have someone that would always see him. Further, Kakashi promised to look after Rin, so there would be someone there who would always see her as well.

But… but looking at Kakashi now, he feels his heart freeze in his chest. Relief and concern in equal measure are painted on his masked features. He is unspeakably glad that his sharingan is active so this moment is forever etched into his memory, because for once Kakashi is looking at him and not through. A half second passes for him to process this before Rin is leaning into view as well, and through her own concern and relief, her eyes see him too.

Obito’s ragged heart is aching again, but it is a good healing pain, one he had almost resigned himself to never feeling. The temptation to give in to tears has never been stronger for him than at this moment.

Happy, healing tears of joy, but then he remembers the circumstances of his last thought before he lost consciousness and he is consumed by worry of his own.

“You two all right?” he asks. The positive nod that Rin gives does nothing to assuage his concerns, if anything it makes him start to panic and his heart thunder in his chest, because while Rin and Kakashi may be looking at him they are not looking at each other. Something clearly is wrong and…

He grits his teeth and drags himself up slowly into a sitting position, while his eye darts frantically between the two of them trying to find any hidden injury and studying their chakra.

Clearly seeing that Obito is not to be deterred and fast working himself into a fright, Kakashi sighs, and if the stiff cadence of his voice does not away his distress the defaulting to formal speech does. “We are in disagreement over the tactics implemented in our last enemy encounter.”

Left unsaid is Rin’s attempt at suicide, and Obito feels all the adrenalin that he used to lever himself into a sitting position drain out of him.

“Oh,” is all he says as he sways slightly only to be braced by Kakashi on one side. After a moment, his brow furrows as his gaze shifts between his two teammates, “What exactly was going on anyway? I mean I saw how Kakashi tried to stop and how you just stood there Rin…” and here he feels Kakashi stiffen even while bracing him.

“I know I made Kakashi promise to take care of you Rin, but I never thought I needed to make you promise to look after Kakashi too since you always have,” Obito says and he detects a flinch from Rin at this comment before he continues. “What—”

Rin interrupts his ramblings seemingly unwilling to listen to his floundering attempts to understand. “Kiri sealed the Sanbi in me, but they deliberately made the seal unstable so that the Sanbi would be released inside of Konoha.”

At the mention of an unstable seal, Obito’s gaze darts to Rin in alarm.

“It’s okay,” she says. “The Sanbi could have broken free anytime now, but apparently we have reached a truce of sorts.”

Kakashi’s body twitches an infinitesimal amount, but just enough to make Obito aware that this is new information to him. Obito sucks in a shaky breath of air in relief and feels his face taking on a distraught expression. “That still does not explain why you were trying to make Kakashi kill you though,” Obito says. “Surely there were other options?”

“I—” Rin starts.

“You know what? No,” Obito says shaking his head and drawing Kakashi and Rin into as fierce a hug as his weak and aching body can give. “No, we’re not doing this. This is partially my fault for leaving the two of you. So, we are making a pact right here and now that the next time an enemy is trying to kill one or all of us, they take all of us or none.”

Obito makes his voice take on a melodramatic superior tone. “Not that I believe anyone will manage to win over our teamwork, because we are the most awesome team seven of Konoha.” He hears the most beautiful music possible right now as Rin dissolves into giggles.

Obito has a bright, sly smile that tugs at the scars on his face as he continues. “But clearly you two are utterly incapable of looking after yourselves without me around.” He feels more than hears Kakashi’s silent huff of laughter and the slight easing of tension in Kakashi’s lean frame.

“So, all or none of us?” he asks as he looks from one to the other, lamenting his lack of peripheral vision that prevents him from seeing them both at one time. But… he sees the apology in Rin’s eyes and the forgiveness in Kakashi’s eye, and the world suddenly seems that much brighter. The hurt would never be forgotten, but then it shouldn’t or it might happened again.

A moment, and Kakashi and Rin reach out with their free arms simultaneously to complete a group hug.

A new beginning.

A new pact.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lol Long author’s note.
> 
> So you guys are all awesome, fabulous people! When I started this, I was honestly going to be happy to get like 10 kudos and no comments whatsoever. I have gotten so many more than 10 kudos and also comments O.O comments too oh my gosh! So you guys have made me very happy and I appreciate every single one of you that enjoyed my story enough to leave a kudos and/or comment, and even those that just stopped by to read it. XD
> 
> Since I was aiming so low I haven’t yet bothered to mention that this is the first multi-chapter creative writing I have ever attempted. I had intended to start with a one shot or something really short, but my muse was like noooooooo… so here I am. I did keep my promise to myself to never make a first attempt a chapter fic unless I had some good notes on things. I’ve been slower than I’d like, though I bet with more practice I’ll do better. If worse comes to worse, I will post those notes so you guys can at least see what was going to happen. But I would honestly much rather just write it, since I know I can. :D
> 
> As a side note, I wasn’t going to tell you guys about this (possible spoilers stuff) but looking at my notes this thing really has like two arcs. And now it is trying to grow a third arc (we’ll see if it happens or not as I go). So there is a high chance that I will make this into a series, for organizational purposes and just plain for my moral and motivation. :)
> 
> And you guys have all been great making me feel better about that plot point thing. I thought that I might explain a bit so you guys can understand why that bothered me so much, even if the why was just something I witnessed from the outside.
> 
> There was one time I saw there was a similar thing happened (with a plot point even less similar) between two separate fandoms (I think it was Bleach and Naruto other than that I can’t remember many details), but there was apparently a vague similarity that I totally missed until someone got all upset about it, and thus I worry that whatever part of my brain that is supposed to make the distinction between too similar or not isn’t registering properly. And I am doing this for fun, the last thing I want to do is copy accidentally or not, because that is mean, hurtful, and no longer fun anymore.
> 
> Also, I was just frustrated, cause I am aiming for trying to be unique as possible. But at the same time logically fitting in the world and I was just frustrated (pouting) with myself over it. So you guys can laugh at my silly frustration. :)
> 
> Anyway! You guys made me feel much better about it! Thank you! I hope you all continue to enjoy my little bit of crazy story telling! XD


	5. A Grim Realization

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which the question of when is answered and Hatake’s don’t like threats to their pack…

After an endless moment wrapped in arms of his pack, just breathing… Kakashi pulls back from the embrace slightly. It might be a small and broken pack, but it is still a good one.

Rin’s decision still leaves an ache in his heart, but it is as if a healing balm has been placed on it. He looks at her, and she sits tall and strong with her kind inner warmth. He can breathe a bit more freely now, knowing that whatever happens they’ll be in it together to the end.

He watches as Rin builds up a mound of furs behind Obito so that he has something to lean against and still sit up. She taps his nose with her finger as she helps him lean back. “Deactivate your Sharingan Obito, you don’t have the chakra to spare right now.” Obito’s expression is startled for a moment as she sends her chakra through his system again in another scan. He blinks slowly, almost hesitant, a few times before the red of his eye fades to black.

Obito’s countenance is odd, almost distracted. But then his eye alights on Kakashi and he tilts his head as confusion blooms on his features. “Hey, Kakashi… why are you keeping your left eye closed? Is there something wrong with the eye I gave you?”

He shakes his head feeling rueful. “No, but I am not an Uchiha so I can’t turn the eye off. If I left my eye open all the time, I would be completely drained of chakra.”

“Oh,” Obito winces. “Sorry for the difficulty.”

Kakashi bites back the whine that wants to escape his throat.

Why? Why does he do this? Obito gave him this incredible gift, has hampered his own ability by doing so, and yet he is _sorry_?

“It’s fine.” Kakashi curls his eyes up into a smile. “It’s been a very helpful gift that has kept both Rin and I alive.” Thank you seems like such a poor expression of how much he appreciates that and the gift itself, but that is all he has to offer. “Thanks.”

It seems to be enough as Obito brightens and his smile, scars and all, is joyful. “I’m so glad.”

Rin’s own smile is small and gentle, but no less joyful.

Kakashi feels the tension in his chest ease. Obito’s conviction is still bright and fierce, even with whatever he’s been through since they left him. The two of them being by his side makes him feel like he can take on the world no matter what it throws at him.

He is even more confused about the scars now though. Scars won in battle defending a packmate were a mark of honor. A statement of dedication to protect and of strength to survive. Most scars anyway.

Kakashi always feels a bit conflicted about the scar on his eye. That did not count as a mark of honor, because he had been going to leave them both behind.

Alone and unaided.

Still, Obito’s gift resides beneath that scar. He took it as a sign, a permanent reminder of his shame that the scar should be forever visible while the eye is in use. A testament to all who would see the eye. But Rin said that Obito would feel self-conscious about his scars, not proud of them.

Was Obito ashamed of saving him? All his other actions and words say otherwise.

But—

Rin’s words jar him out of his introspection. “All right Kakashi, sit still. While I have been monitoring Obito, I haven’t yet had the chance to make sure there hasn’t been any overt damage to you.”

Kakashi stiffens and begins to open his mouth in protest.

But Rin just gives him a look and he folds like wet paper. Really she could weaponized that look if she wanted to. Anyone else would be left curling into a ball of shame. Despite the lingering concern in Obito’s eye, Kakashi definitely catches the amused bright-eyed laughter in it.

He slumps and resigns himself to Rin’s fretting as she reaches her hands across Obito towards him.

Her chakra is soothing as it runs through his system and he feels himself relaxing further in spite of himself. All the same… “What about you? I know you said everything was under control with the Sanbi, but what about any of your own injuries?”

“Mostly superficial. I just need to take it easy for a little while and let my chakra system adapt to the addition of Sanbi-san’s chakra.” Rin says as she withdraws her hands. “You appear to be in fairly good shape too. Just take it easy with the chakra use for a while and don’t strain yourself too much. Of the three of us, Obito is in the worst shape, so whatever happened had to have used him as the focal point.”

Obito wrinkles his nose in confusion and brushes his hair out of his face. “Umm… guys? Not to interrupt, but why aren’t we in a Konoha hospital? For that matter where are we anyway? I know we were in Konoha before I passed out.”

Kakashi cocks his head, confused about how Obito could possibly know that, but he answers nonetheless. “We’re in a Hatake clan den,” and here Kakashi sees a spark of knowledgeable satisfaction in Rin’s eyes. “Inside the borders of what will be Konoha.”

Obito blinks. “What… will be?”

Rin rolls her eyes at Kakashi and huffs. “Somehow we landed in the past, before Konoha was even formed.” Obito’s expression is incredulous and Kakashi is sure that his eye could not get any wider as Rin continues. “I am not sure how far though.”

Obito’s mouth opens and closes a few times, before Kakashi picks up where Rin left off.

“I’ve been looking through the records kept here. They indicate that the current clan head is Tsukiko, who was clan head shortly before the formation of Konoha. So we are sometime not too far prior to when Hashirama and Madara… agreed to build Konoha.” Kakashi finishes the sentence purely on reflex, because Obito has suddenly lost every bit of color in his face and shrunk in on himself.

He has never seen such a reaction from Obito before.

“Obito? Obito! What—” Rin cries.

Obito’s left hand comes up and rubs his right arm a few times before he answers. The volume of his voice is akin to a whisper in the wind. “Aa… Hashirama… didn’t do such a good job of killing Madara.”

Kakashi and Rin both freeze and the sound of running water seems almost unbearably loud in the sudden silence.

The meaning behind that statement could not be plainer. Madara of the past might be sane, but Madara of the future was a known missing nin.

A madman.

And Obito has been in his care all this time?

Kakashi’s ears are ringing, and he has to stomp down on the nearly irrepressible urge to hunt down this time’s Madara and _eviscerate_ him.

No one has ever manage to make Obito seem so vulnerable and broken.

Not his clan. Not all of his careless cruelty. Not being pinned underneath that accursed rock.

Nothing.

But somehow even mentioning Madara’s name managed to do it.

Dangerous.

Eliminate a threat.

And—

And Rin is talking but for some reason he can’t hear her. A few deep breathes and the ringing in his ears fades.

“…stay away.” Rin says. “Right Kakashi?”

Kakashi just blinks at her in incomprehension, which earns him an unimpressed expression.

“Kakashi having a Sharingan is certainly not going to help. So as far as the Uchiha goes it would probably be best to just stay away.” Rin repeats.

Kakashi makes a noise of agreement before a pensive look crosses his masked face. However helpful the eye has been, Obito gave it to him when he thought he was going to die. The situation is different now, and with all the complications perhaps he should give it back.

“I could—” Kakashi starts.

But Obito jerks his head up, Sharingan active again, and raises his left arm to level a threatening finger at him. “Finish that sentence.” He snarls.

Kakashi suspects the threat would be a little more effective if Obito wasn’t as pale as a ghost and his arm wasn’t trembling with exhaustion, but at least he isn’t curled in on himself. He will count a livid Obito as an improvement.

A soft hum escapes him and he reaches over with his right hand to wrap Obito’s wrist in a gentle grip. Obito’s anger disintegrates as fast as it spontaneously appeared leaving confusion and timid uncertainty in its wake. He looks so lost, and Kakashi feels his heart clench. He slides close enough so that their shoulders bump even as he refuses to relinquish the grip he has on Obito’s wrist.

His right hand. The one he nearly killed Rin with, and ever since they landed in this time he can barely look at it. He rubs his thumb along Obito’s wrist relishing in the feel of the strong pulse beneath his fingers.

He has reservations at all the complications that keeping the eye will create, both now and when they get back home. He still feels like he doesn’t deserve such a gift, but he won’t spit on Obito’s wishes that way.

Not since Obito clearly feels that emphatic about it.

“All right,” he says.                     

Kakashi can feel the tremors that wrack Obito’s body, not of exhaustion, but emotion. On Obito’s other side, Rin wraps an arm Obito’s shoulders and leans her head against his before she says, “Obito. Sharingan. _Off_.” This time at least Obito is faster to comply with the request, but Kakashi is still concerned.

Something is not quite right, though perhaps that’s to be expected.

Obito’s eye is tearing up, but he doesn’t let the tears fall as he usually would. That concerns Kakashi more than anything.

Obito has never been one to stem the tide of his tears before. But this… this is an involuntary reaction. Kakashi doubts Obito even realizes he’s doing it and that does not paint any better picture than the idea of him being in Madara’s care. Kakashi supposes it could be attributed to growing up, but he seriously doubts that given the situation. He has suspicions, but…

Still, this is nice. This is warmth and safety of a pack.

His father had tried so hard to be a good pack. But something was always missing and he feels like he has found it at last. It’s futile, but he wishes that his father could have seen this. Could have seen him find good packmates of his own.

A soft, sad sigh escapes him before he continues briefing Rin and Obito on their situation. “The Hatake clan is nomadic. There are several dens located all over the elemental nations and they move between them to make sure all the game animals have a chance to repopulate. The clan follows no real set pattern though, so there is no way to tell when next they will come this way.”

“Won’t Obito and I being here be a problem?” Rin asks.

Kakashi shakes his head and is relieved to note the return of color to Obito’s face with the conversation. “No, the Hatake clan is less prone to having an extreme reaction then some, and my being here will at least win us an audience first. It’s probably best if we avoid all clans entirely until then or if we find a way home first.”

Kakashi should tell them that the reason it will be fine is that they are now part of the Hatake clan themselves. He _really_ should. But—

Rin interrupts him before he contemplate the thought any further. “Obito, how long has it been since you ate something?”

“Er… its… been a while. Umm…” Obito pastes a bright smile on his face though the light of it doesn’t quite reach his eye. “Hey, how long has it been since the Kannabi bridge mission?”

That is one of the poorest deflections Kakashi has ever heard, but he is distressed to recognize that smile on Obito’s face. Also a worrisome question, because why doesn’t Obito know how long it’s been since then?

“Obito.” Rin’s voice is deceptive in its sweetness, and Kakashi feels the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. He is interested in the answer himself, or he would have taken the time to vacate the general vicinity post haste.

 Obito hangs his head and mumbles, “As far as I can tell, since whenever we ate on the Kannabi bridge mission.”

Kakashi’s thought process all but stutters to a halt, while Rin makes a high distressed noise and curls closer to Obito.

What?

Surely he heard wrong?

“That has been over a year ago now.” Kakashi voices in disbelief.

How—

“Oh,” Obito raises his head and his smile is far more tentative as he flexes the fingers in his right hand. “It’s okay, it’s something to do with these new prosthetics.”

Kakashi feels as if someone had stabbed him with a rusty kunai and left him in a winter rain far from help, because Obito sounded so _earnest_. More concerned with easing their own distress than his own feelings.

It is _abundantly_ clear that it is _not_ okay or Obito would not have felt the need to conceal it. Kakashi grumbles to himself, how is he supposed to make sure his pack is okay if they are concealing when something is wrong and—

His storm of thought dissipates like the energy of a grounded lightning strike.

Oh.

That’s why Rin gets so upset with them when they hide their injuries, and he can’t help the distinct jolt of chagrin he feels at the thought even as he resigns himself to medical assessments in the future.

Kakashi looks at both Rin and Obito out of the corner of his eye. If he is not mistaken, Rin agrees that it is not okay either. He watches as she sighs and apparently decides to let it go, only for the moment if the expression on her face is any indication, then she turns to face Kakashi.

“Do you know what kind of person Tsukiko is?” Rin’s curiosity is evident in her voice. “I mean it’s rare to have a female clan head isn’t it?”

Kakashi makes a soft negative sound in the back of his throat. “No, it is actually normal for the Hatake clan to have a female leader. A lot of clans consider us matrilineal, but that’s not quite accurate. Women and men are considered equals under our clan, and marriage into the clan means taking up the Hatake name whether the outside party is male or female.”

He neglects mentioning that this is also true of being adopted into the clan. Hatake are very protective and possessive of their packmates. His father never mentioned the name adoption to his teammates either. Maybe that was a sign in of itself that something wasn’t right with his father’s teammates? But Obito is so proud of his own clan, regardless of whether they deserve that recognition from him or not, and Kakashi… Kakashi doesn’t want to take that away from him.

He’s not even sure what Rin will think of the whole mess.

Kakashi shakes his head as he thinks of his clan. Either way it’s not that important right now.

Seeing as Obito and Rin both seem fascinated, he continues with his impromptu lesson. “It’s why we are such a small clan, because most other clans don’t want to lose their members and civilians don’t want to be involved in shinobi business. Females aren’t born as often in the Hatake clan, and unlike the norm they typically have more chakra capacity then the males do. Men spend a lot of time hunting, so women often have the time, strength, and knowledge to lead.”

Kakashi shrugs. “On occasion, there will be a male Hatake clan head. Usually when there are no females, but there have been times in our history when a male was particularly well suited to lead.”

“Huh, that’s—” and here Obito interrupts himself with a massive yawn. “...cool.”

Kakashi notes Obito’s struggle to stay awake. The interest in his eye is clear, but just as obvious is his exhaustion. All things considered, it’s not exactly a shock to see him practically nodding off to sleep mid-sentence. Rin isn’t exactly the pinnacle of awareness either.

“We can talk some more after we all get some sleep.” Kakashi says and Obito’s features take on a distinct mulish cast even with his bleary eye. “There is plenty of time after all.”

Kakashi listens to the disgruntled huff Obito gives off before his body betrays him and he slides back to sleep.

He glances over at Rin as she carefully maneuvers Obito off the mound of furs and into a horizontal position. “You had best get some rest as well Rin, you’ve been expending the most energy healing everyone.”

Rin narrows her eyes. “What about you? Your chakra—”

“I’ll be back in a bit, there’s just something I want to do first.” At the disbelieving look that gets him, Kakashi sighs. “It’s nothing too strenuous. I promise.”

Rin purses her lips, but finally nods in acceptance. “Don’t exhaust yourself.”

Kakashi hums in agreement as he watches Rin curl up under the furs next to Obito. He takes a few moment to observe them as their breathing evens out and they are deeply asleep, before he heads to the forge.

He knows something that might make Obito feel better.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> O.O I swear I need to sit here with a good handkerchief while I write this arc. Good grief.
> 
> Aaaaaaaaarrrrg… I wanted this out before Easter… -_- *frustrated noises* Still feel like something is missing from it, but it is better than before. But it’s been bugging me something fierce that something feels like it is missing or maybe something is just off. I don’t know. Anyway, I guess I will leave it and move on now.
> 
> I think I read somewhere that it was a bad idea to change points of view very often… oh well too bad… I definitely tagged multiple pov and meant it. I am not really doing much planning on deviating from the currently used viewpoints at least so there is that. Not too many pov shifts in a chapter either. No promises on sticking with the current pattern though.
> 
> And at last we find out when they landed! Yay! I have been dying to write that part. Also, some world building for the Hatake clan! Because I am a glutton for punishment on new writing concepts. (Of course I say that while I sit here with sparkling eyes.) *cough* Anyway! Kakashi and Madara should not be in close quarters by themselves, regardless of Madara’s level of guilt in this time or not. Just no. Bad, bad idea. Rin might not be that safe of a person either. Kakashi and Obito both need lots of hugs, and Kakashi is being an insecure idiot about the clan adoption thing. And apparently the scars thing decided to come up sooner than I initially planned it with Kakashi’s view point. *shrug*
> 
> References:
> 
> *Lilo and Stitch reference at the beginning for a small, broken, but still good family.

**Author's Note:**

> So here is me experimenting with: a newish tense, show don't tell, and various sentence lengths. Not to mention it has been a ridiculously long time since I have done creative writing instead of just coming up with concepts, so I am very rusty. That said I think this at least conveyed the concept I wanted, so I will count it as a win.
> 
> EDIT: So true to my paranoia about writing something that someone else has already done, I have read a story that was written prior to mine that does have something similar in it. Namely, Obito getting his mangekyō sharingan prior to anyone dying. 
> 
> I know I got to that point differently because the original incarnation of this story had Obito time traveling alone from the exact point I started this story at and Rin still dying, the idea of which existed before said similar story was published. However, I got to liking the idea of the entire team 7 surviving and making the time travel trip to the warring states time instead. So in order to get Obito his mangekyō, which I was always planning on using for an unintentional time warp, without anyone dying, I was taking advantage of the sharingan’s predictive qualities (literally in this story as opposed to Obito imagining the aftermath as it is done in the other story which at least does manage to make it somewhat different) and getting Obito to Rin and Kakashi before Rin died a little faster (which is also a different setting from the other story thank goodness). 
> 
> I can see how this part managed to come out so similar, given the world tools that there are to work with, even if it was unintentional. Regardless, I will acknowledge that my story has that one element, as far as I can determine, in common with another story. Furthermore, I will recommend it here, so if anyone wants to read the idea used in a different setting and a different story base, since there is as of yet no time travel in the story and Obito did not get the mangekyō at the same point in the story either. The story is “My Gift To You” by ShikiKyuu on AO3.


End file.
